Methods and Systems for Representing Different Spectral Components of an Audio Signal Presented to a Cochlear Implant Patient

ABSTRACT

An exemplary system includes a sound processor configured to identify one or more spectral peaks of an audio signal presented to a cochlear implant patient and an implantable cochlear stimulator communicatively coupled to the sound processor and configured to apply electrical stimulation representative of the one or more spectral peaks to at least one stimulation site within the cochlear implant patient using a partial multipolar stimulation configuration and apply electrical stimulation representative of one or more other spectral components of the audio signal to at least one other stimulation site within the cochlear implant patient using a monopolar stimulation configuration. Corresponding systems methods are also disclosed.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a divisional application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/569,500, filed Sep. 29, 2009, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The sense of hearing in human beings involves the use of hair cells inthe cochlea that convert or transduce acoustic signals into auditorynerve impulses. Hearing loss, which may be due to many different causes,is generally of two types: conductive and sensorineural. Conductivehearing loss occurs when the normal mechanical pathways for sound toreach the hair cells in the cochlea are impeded. These sound pathwaysmay be impeded, for example, by damage to the auditory ossicles.Conductive hearing loss may often be overcome through the use ofconventional hearing aids that amplify sound so that acoustic signalscan reach the hair cells within the cochlea. Some types of conductivehearing loss may also be treated by surgical procedures.

Sensorineural hearing loss, on the other hand, is caused by the absenceor destruction of the hair cells in the cochlea which are needed totransduce acoustic signals into auditory nerve impulses. People whosuffer from sensorineural hearing loss may be unable to derivesignificant benefit from conventional hearing aid systems, no matter howloud the acoustic stimulus is. This is because the mechanism fortransducing sound energy into auditory nerve impulses has been damaged.Thus, in the absence of properly functioning hair cells, auditory nerveimpulses cannot be generated directly from sounds.

To overcome sensorineural hearing loss, numerous cochlear implantsystems—or cochlear prostheses—have been developed. Cochlear implantsystems bypass the hair cells in the cochlea by presenting electricalstimulation directly to the auditory nerve fibers. Direct stimulation ofthe auditory nerve fibers leads to the perception of sound in the brainand at least partial restoration of hearing function.

To facilitate direct stimulation of the auditory nerve fibers, a leadhaving an array of electrodes disposed thereon may be implanted in thecochlea. The electrodes form a number of stimulation channels throughwhich electrical stimulation pulses may be applied directly to auditorynerves within the cochlea. An audio signal may then be presented to apatient by translating the audio signal into a number of electricalstimulation pulses and applying the stimulation pulses directly to theauditory nerve within the cochlea via one or more of the electrodes.

Some audio signals, such as speech, contain spectral peaks thatrepresent the distinguishing or meaningful frequency components of theaudio signals. It is therefore desirable to present electricalstimulation representative of such spectral peaks to a cochlear implantpatient in as fine of spectral resolution as possible. However,traditional monopolar stimulation configurations that are often used toapply electrical stimulation to the auditory nerve produce a broadspread of electrical excitation and therefore result in relatively poorspectral resolution.

SUMMARY

An exemplary method of representing different spectral components of anaudio signal presented to a cochlear implant patient includesidentifying one or more spectral peaks of an audio signal presented to acochlear implant patient, applying electrical stimulation representativeof the one or more spectral peaks to at least one stimulation sitewithin the cochlear implant patient using a partial multipolarstimulation configuration, and applying electrical stimulationrepresentative of one or more other spectral components of the audiosignal to at least one other stimulation site within the cochlearimplant patient using a monopolar stimulation configuration.

An exemplary system for representing different spectral components of anaudio signal presented to a cochlear implant patient includes a soundprocessor configured to identify one or more spectral peaks of an audiosignal presented to a cochlear implant patient and an implantablecochlear stimulator communicatively coupled to the sound processor andconfigured to apply electrical stimulation representative of the one ormore spectral peaks to at least one stimulation site within the cochlearimplant patient using a partial multipolar stimulation configuration andapply electrical stimulation representative of one or more otherspectral components of the audio signal to at least one otherstimulation site within the cochlear implant patient using a monopolarstimulation configuration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate various embodiments and are a partof the specification. The illustrated embodiments are merely examplesand do not limit the scope of the disclosure. Throughout the drawings,identical or similar reference numbers designate identical or similarelements.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary cochlear implant system according toprinciples described herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic structure of the human cochlea accordingto principles described herein.

FIG. 3 illustrates exemplary components of a sound processing subsystemaccording to principles described herein.

FIG. 4 illustrates exemplary components of a stimulation subsystemaccording to principles described herein.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary implementation of the cochlear implantsystem of FIG. 1 according to principles described herein.

FIG. 6 illustrates components of an exemplary sound processor coupled toan implantable cochlear stimulator according to principles describedherein.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary method of representing differentspectral components of an audio signal presented to a cochlear implantpatient according to principles described herein.

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary electrode arrangement that may be selectivelyconfigured to operate in one of a monopolar stimulation configuration, afull multipolar stimulation configuration, and a partial multipolarstimulation configuration according to principles described herein.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary implementation of a current steeringstrategy according to principles described herein.

FIG. 10 illustrates another exemplary implementation of a currentsteering strategy according to principles described herein.

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary method of representing formantsincluded within an audio signal presented to a cochlear implant patientaccording to principles described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Methods and systems for representing different spectral components of anaudio signal presented to a cochlear implant patient are describedherein. In some examples, one or more spectral peaks of an audio signalpresented to a cochlear implant patient are identified. Electricalstimulation representative of the one or more spectral peaks is appliedto at least one stimulation site within the cochlear implant patientusing a partial multipolar stimulation configuration. Electricalstimulation representative of one or more other spectral components ofthe audio signal to at least one other stimulation site within thecochlear implant patient using a monopolar stimulation configuration.

As used herein, a “spectral peak” refers to a spectral component withinan audio signal that represents a distinguishing or meaningful componentof the audio signal. A spectral peak may have an amplitude that isrelatively greater than surrounding frequency components.

As used herein, a “monopolar stimulation configuration” is one in whichstimulation current is passed through a single intracochlear electrode(i.e., an electrode that is implanted within the cochlea) and anextracochlear ground electrode (i.e., an electrode located outside thecochlea). Hence, in monopolar stimulation, all of the current flowsbetween the intracochlear electrode and the extracochlear groundelectrode. The extracochlear ground electrode may be implemented usingthe case of the implantable cochlear stimulator, disposed on a proximalportion of a lead that is inserted into the cochlea, and/or otherwiseimplemented in any suitable manner. In some alternatively embodiments,an intracochlear electrode may be used as the ground electrode.

As used herein, a “full multipolar stimulation configuration” is one inwhich stimulation current is simultaneously applied to a mainintracochlear electrode and one or more intracochlear compensatingelectrodes without any of the stimulation current flowing to theextracochlear electrode. Hence, all of the current flows between themain intracochlear electrode and the one or more intracochlearcompensating electrodes. Exemplary full multipolar stimulationconfigurations include, but are not limited to, full bipolar stimulation(where stimulation current is passed between two intracochlearelectrodes) and full tripolar stimulation (where stimulation current ispassed between three intracochlear electrodes).

As used herein, a “partial multipolar stimulation configuration” is onein which stimulation current is applied to a main intracochlearelectrode while compensating current opposite in phase to that of thestimulation current is simultaneously applied to one or moreintracochlear compensating electrodes. In partial multipolarstimulation, the total amount of compensating current applied to thecompensating electrodes is less than the total amount of stimulationcurrent applied to the main electrode. The remaining amount of currentflows to the extracochlear ground electrode. For example, as will bedescribed in more detail below, the amount of stimulation currentapplied to the main electrode may be represented by I_(o) and the amountof stimulation current applied to the compensating electrodes may berepresented by σ*I₀, where σ is greater than zero and less than one.Hence, the remaining amount of current that flows to the extracochlearground electrode may be represented by (1−σ)*I₀.

By selectively representing spectral peaks with a partial multipolarstimulation configuration and other spectral components with a monopolarstimulation configuration, enhanced spectral resolution, more accurateconveyance of information contained within an audio signal, and/oroptimal speech recognition may be achieved. Moreover, spectral smearingmay be minimized, thereby improving performance of a cochlear implantsystem.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary cochlear implant system 100. As shown inFIG. 1, cochlear implant system 100 may include a sound processingsubsystem 102 and a stimulation subsystem 104 configured to communicatewith one another. As will be described in more detail below, cochlearimplant system 100 may be configured to selectively utilize a partialmultipolar electrode configuration to apply electrical stimulationrepresentative of one or more spectral peaks of an audio signal to acochlear implant patient and a monopolar electrode stimulation to applyelectrical stimulation representative of one or more other spectralcomponents of the audio signal to the cochlear implant patient.

In some examples, sound processing subsystem 102 may be configured todetect or sense an audio signal and divide the audio signal into aplurality of analysis channels each containing a frequency domain signal(or simply “signal”) representative of a distinct frequency portion ofthe audio signal. Sound processing subsystem 102 may be furtherconfigured to identify one or more spectral peaks included within thefrequency domain signals and direct stimulation subsystem 104 to use apartial multipolar stimulation configuration to generate and applyelectrical stimulation representative of the one or more spectral peaksto a cochlear implant patient. Sound processing subsystem 102 mayadditionally be configured to detect one or more spectral valleys and/orother spectral components of the audio signal and direct stimulationsubsystem 104 to use a monopolar stimulation configuration to generateand apply electrical stimulation representative of the one or more otherspectral components spectral peaks to the cochlear implant patient.

Stimulation subsystem 104 may be configured to generate and applyelectrical stimulation (also referred to herein as “stimulation current”and/or “stimulation pulses”) to one or more stimulation sites within thecochlea of a patient as directed by sound processing subsystem 102. Forexample, stimulation subsystem 104 may be configured to generate andapply electrical stimulation in accordance with one or more stimulationparameters transmitted thereto by sound processing subsystem 102. Thestimulation parameters may control various parameters of the electricalstimulation applied to a stimulation site including, but not limited to,a stimulation configuration, a frequency, a pulse width, an amplitude, awaveform (e.g., square or sinusoidal), an electrode polarity (i.e.,anode-cathode assignment), a location (i.e., which electrode pair orelectrode group receives the stimulation current), a burst pattern(e.g., burst on time and burst off time), a duty cycle or burst repeatinterval, a spectral tilt, a ramp on time, and a ramp off time of thestimulation current that is applied to the stimulation site.

The one or more stimulation sites to which electrical stimulation isapplied may include any target area or location within the cochlea. FIG.2 illustrates a schematic structure of the human cochlea 200. As shownin FIG. 2, the cochlea 200 is in the shape of a spiral beginning at abase 202 and ending at an apex 204. Within the cochlea 200 residesauditory nerve tissue 206, which is denoted by Xs in FIG. 2. Theauditory nerve tissue 206 is organized within the cochlea 200 in atonotopic manner. Low frequencies are encoded at the apex 204 of thecochlea 200 while high frequencies are encoded at the base 202. Hence,each location along the length of the cochlea 200 corresponds to adifferent perceived frequency. Stimulation subsystem 104 may thereforebe configured to apply electrical stimulation to different locationswithin the cochlea 200 (e.g., different locations along the auditorynerve tissue 206) to provide a sensation of hearing.

Returning to FIG. 1, sound processing subsystem 102 and stimulationsubsystem 104 may be configured to operate in accordance with one ormore control parameters. These control parameters may be configured tospecify one or more stimulation parameters, operating parameters, and/orany other parameter as may serve a particular application. Exemplarycontrol parameters include, but are not limited to, most comfortablecurrent levels (“M levels”), threshold current levels (“T levels”),dynamic range parameters, channel acoustic gain parameters, front andbackend dynamic range parameters, current steering parameters, amplitudevalues, pulse rate values, pulse width values, polarity values, filtercharacteristics, and/or any other control parameter as may serve aparticular application.

Cochlear implant system 100, including sound processing subsystem 102and stimulation subsystem 104, may include any hardware,computer-implemented instructions (e.g., software), firmware, orcombinations thereof configured to perform one or more of the processesdescribed herein. For example, cochlear implant system 100, includingsound processing subsystem 102 and stimulation subsystem 104, mayinclude hardware (e.g., one or more signal processors and/or othercomputing devices) configured to perform one or more of the processesdescribed herein.

One or more of the processes described herein may be implemented atleast in part as instructions executable by one or more computingdevices. In general, a processor receives instructions from acomputer-readable medium (e.g., a memory, etc.) and executes thoseinstructions, thereby performing one or more processes, including one ormore of the processes described herein. Such instructions may be storedand/or transmitted using any of a variety of known computer-readablemedia.

A computer-readable medium (also referred to as a processor-readablemedium) includes any medium that participates in providing data (e.g.,instructions) that may be read by a computing device (e.g., by aprocessor within sound processing subsystem 102). Such a medium may takemany forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media and/orvolatile media. Exemplary computer-readable media that may be used inaccordance with the systems and methods described herein include, butare not limited to, random access memory (“RAM”), dynamic RAM, a PROM,an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or anyother medium from which a computing device can read.

FIG. 3 illustrates exemplary components of sound processing subsystem102. As shown in FIG. 3, sound processing subsystem 102 may include adetection facility 302, a pre-processing facility 304, a spectralanalysis facility 306, a noise reduction facility 308, a mappingfacility 310, a stimulation strategy facility 312, a communicationfacility 314, and a storage facility 316, which may be in communicationwith one another using any suitable communication technologies. Each ofthese facilities 302-316 may include any combination of hardware,software, and/or firmware as may serve a particular application. Forexample, one or more of facilities 302-316 may include a computingdevice or processor configured to perform one or more of the functionsdescribed herein. Facilities 302-316 will now be described in moredetail.

Detection facility 302 may be configured to detect or sense one or moreaudio signals and convert the detected signals to correspondingelectrical signals. To this end, detection facility 302 may include amicrophone or other transducer. In some examples, the one or more audiosignals may include speech. The one or more audio signals mayadditionally or alternatively include music, ambient noise, and/or othersounds.

Pre-processing facility 304 may be configured to perform various signalprocessing operations on the one or more audio signals detected bydetection facility 302. For example, pre-processing facility 304 mayamplify a detected audio signal, convert the audio signal to a digitalsignal, filter the digital signal with a pre-emphasis filter, subjectthe digital signal to automatic gain control, and/or perform one or moreother signal processing operations on the detected audio signal.

Spectral analysis facility 306 may be configured to divide the audiosignal into a plurality of analysis channels each containing a frequencydomain signal representative of a distinct frequency portion of theaudio signal. For example, spectral analysis facility 306 may include aplurality of band-pass filters configured to divide the audio signalinto a plurality of frequency channels or bands. Additionally oralternatively, spectral analysis facility 306 may be configured toconvert the audio signal from a time domain into a frequency domain andthen divide the resulting frequency bins into the plurality of analysischannels. To this end, spectral analysis facility 206 may include one ormore components configured to apply a Discrete Fourier Transform (e.g.,a Fast Fourier Transform (“FFT”)) to the audio signal.

Spectral analysis facility 306 may be configured to divide the audiosignal into any number of analysis channels as may serve a particularapplication. In some examples, the total number of analysis channels isset to be less than or equal to a total number of stimulation channelsthrough which electrical stimulation representative of the audio signalis applied to a cochlear implant patient.

Spectral analysis facility 306 may be further configured to analyze anacoustic spectrum of the audio signal and identify one or more spectralpeaks included therein. For example, spectral analysis facility 306 maybe configured to identify one or more formants included in a speech ormusic signal and/or any other type of spectral peak as may serve aparticular application. As used herein, a “formant” is a spectralcomponent representative of a vowel sound or other distinguishingfeature of an audio signal.

Spectral analysis facility 306 may be configured to identify spectralpeaks in any suitable manner. In some examples, spectral analysisfacility 306 may identify spectral peaks by detecting a maximum energylevel of each of the frequency domain signals included in the analysischannels and then designating a predetermined number of the highestmaximum energy levels (and their corresponding frequency domain signals)as corresponding to spectral peaks. For example, if there are sixteenanalysis channels, spectral analysis facility 306 may designate theeight (or any other number) highest detected maximum energy levels ascorresponding to spectral peaks.

Alternatively, spectral analysis facility 306 may identify spectralpeaks by detecting a maximum energy level of each of the frequencydomain signals included in the analysis channels and then designatingall of the maximum energy levels (and their corresponding frequencydomain signals) that are greater than a predetermined threshold value ascorresponding to spectral peaks. For example, if only three out ofsixteen detected maximum energy levels are greater than a predeterminedthreshold value, then only the three detected maximum energy levels areidentified as corresponding to spectral peaks.

Other spectral analysis heuristics may be used by spectral analysisfacility 306 to identify spectral peaks as may serve a particularapplication. For example, spectral analysis facility 306 may beconfigured to detect an average energy level contained within eachanalysis channel and designate the average energy levels that aregreater than a predetermined threshold as corresponding to spectralpeaks.

Spectral analysis facility 306 may additionally or alternatively beconfigured to identify one or more other spectral components (e.g.,spectral valleys) of an audio signal. For example, spectral analysisfacility 306 may detect a maximum energy level of each of the frequencydomain signals included in the analysis channels and designate all ofthe maximum energy levels (and their corresponding frequency domainsignals) that are less than a predetermined threshold value ascorresponding to spectral valleys. Additional or alternative spectralanalysis heuristics may be used to identify spectral valleys and/orother spectral components of an audio signal as may serve a particularapplication.

Noise reduction facility 308 may be configured to apply noise reductionto the signals within the analysis channels in accordance with anysuitable noise reduction heuristic as may serve a particularapplication. For example, noise reduction facility 308 may be configuredto generate a noise reduction gain parameter for each of the signalswithin the analysis channels and apply noise reduction to the signals inaccordance with the determined noise reduction gain parameters. It willbe recognized that in some implementations, noise reduction facility 308is omitted from sound processing subsystem 102.

Mapping facility 310 may be configured to map the signals within theanalysis channels to electrical stimulation pulses to be applied to apatient via one or more stimulation channels. For example, signal levelsof the noise reduced signals within the analysis channels are mapped toamplitude values used to define electrical stimulation pulses that areapplied to the patient by stimulation subsystem 104 via one or morecorresponding stimulation channels. Mapping facility 310 may be furtherconfigured to perform additional processing of the noise reduced signalscontained within the analysis channels, such as signal compression.

Stimulation strategy facility 312 may be configured to select aparticular stimulation configuration in which stimulation subsystem 104operates to generate and apply electrical stimulation representative ofvarious spectral components of an audio signal. To this end, stimulationstrategy facility 312 may generate one or more stimulation parametersbased on the frequency domain signals within the analysis channels. Forexample, stimulation strategy facility 312 may be configured to generatestimulation parameters that direct stimulation subsystem 104 to usepartial multipolar stimulation to generate and apply electricalstimulation representative of the one or more spectral peaks identifiedby spectral analysis facility 306. Stimulation strategy facility 312 mayadditionally be configured to generate stimulation parameters thatdirect stimulation subsystem 104 to use monopolar stimulation togenerate and apply electrical stimulation representative of the one ormore other spectral components of an audio signal as identified byspectral analysis facility 306.

Stimulation strategy facility 312 may additionally or alternatively beconfigured to generate stimulation parameters that direct stimulationsubsystem 104 to use current steering to apply electrical stimulation toone or more stimulation sites within a cochlear implant patient.Exemplary current steering strategies that may be selected bystimulation strategy facility 312 will be described in more detailbelow.

Communication facility 314 may be configured to facilitate communicationbetween sound processing subsystem 102 and stimulation subsystem 104.For example, communication facility 314 may include one or more coilsconfigured to transmit control signals (e.g., the one or morestimulation parameters generated by stimulation strategy facility 312)and/or power via one or more communication links to stimulationsubsystem 104. Additionally or alternatively, communication facility 314may one or more wires or the like that are configured to facilitatedirect communication with stimulation subsystem 104.

Storage facility 316 may be configured to maintain audio signal data 318representative of an audio signal detected by detection facility 302 andcontrol parameter data 320 representative of one or more controlparameters, which may include one or more stimulation parameters to betransmitted from sound processing subsystem 102 to stimulation subsystem104. Storage facility 316 may be configured to maintain additional oralternative data as may serve a particular application.

FIG. 4 illustrates exemplary components of stimulation subsystem 104. Asshown in FIG. 4, stimulation subsystem 104 may include a communicationfacility 402, a current generation facility 404, a stimulation facility406, and a storage facility 408, which may be in communication with oneanother using any suitable communication technologies. Each of thesefacilities 402-408 may include any combination of hardware, software,and/or firmware as may serve a particular application. For example, oneor more of facilities 402-408 may include a computing device orprocessor configured to perform one or more of the functions describedherein. Facilities 402-408 will now be described in more detail.

Communication facility 402 may be configured to facilitate communicationbetween stimulation subsystem 104 and sound processing subsystem 102.For example, communication facility 402 may include one or more coilsconfigured to receive control signals and/or power via one or morecommunication links to stimulation subsystem 104. Communication facility402 may additionally or alternatively be configured to transmit one ormore status signals and/or other data to sound processing subsystem 102.

Current generation facility 404 may be configured to generate electricalstimulation in accordance with one or more stimulation parametersreceived from sound processing subsystem 102. To this end, currentgeneration facility 404 may include one or more current generatorsand/or any other circuitry configured to facilitate generation ofelectrical stimulation. For example, current generation facility 404 maybe configured to generate electrical stimulation representative of oneor more spectral peaks and/or one or more other spectral components(e.g., spectral valleys) of an audio signal.

Stimulation facility 406 may be configured to apply the electricalstimulation generated by current generation facility 404 to one or morestimulation sites within the cochlea of a patient in accordance with theone or more stimulation parameters generated by stimulation strategyfacility 312. To this end, as will be illustrated in more detail below,stimulation facility 406 may include one or more electrodes disposed ona lead that may be inserted within the cochlea. For example, stimulationfacility 406 may be configured to apply electrical stimulationrepresentative of one or more spectral peaks of an audio signal asidentified by spectral analysis facility 306 to at least one stimulationsite within the cochlear implant patient using a partial multipolarstimulation configuration. Stimulation facility 406 may be furtherconfigured to apply electrical stimulation representative of one or moreother spectral components (e.g., spectral valleys) of the audio signalto at least one other stimulation site within the cochlear implantpatient using a monopolar stimulation configuration.

Storage facility 408 may be configured to maintain stimulation parameterdata 410 as received from sound processing subsystem 102. Stimulationparameter data 410 may be representative of one or more stimulationparameters configured to define the electrical stimulation generated andapplied by stimulation subsystem 104. Storage facility 408 may beconfigured to maintain additional or alternative data as may serve aparticular application.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary implementation 500 of cochlear implantsystem 100. As shown in FIG. 5, implementation 500 may include amicrophone 502, a sound processor 504, a headpiece 506 having a coil 508disposed therein, an implantable cochlear stimulator (“ICS”) 510, a lead512, and a plurality of electrodes 514 disposed on the lead 512.Additional or alternative components may be included withinimplementation 500 of cochlear implant system 100 as may serve aparticular application. The facilities described herein may beimplemented by or within one or more components shown within FIG. 5. Forexample, detection facility 302 may be implemented by microphone 502.Pre-processing facility 304, spectral analysis facility 306, noisereduction facility 308, mapping facility 310, stimulation strategyfacility 312, and/or storage facility 316 may be implemented by soundprocessor 504. Communication facility 314 may be implemented byheadpiece 506 and coil 508. Communication facility 402, currentgeneration facility 404, and storage facility 408 may be implemented byimplantable cochlear stimulator 508. Stimulation facility 406 may beimplemented by lead 510 and electrodes 512.

As shown in FIG. 5, microphone 502, sound processor 504, and headpiece506 may be located external to a cochlear implant patient. In somealternative examples, microphone 502 and/or sound processor 504 may beimplanted within the patient. In such configurations, the need forheadpiece 506 may be obviated.

Microphone 502 may detect an audio signal and convert the detectedsignal to a corresponding electrical signal. Microphone 502 may beplaced external to the patient, within the ear canal of the patient, orat any other suitable location as may serve a particular application.The electrical signal may be sent from microphone 502 to sound processor504 via a communication link 514, which may include a telemetry link, awire, and/or any other suitable communication link.

Sound processor 504 is configured to process the converted audio signalin accordance with a selected sound processing strategy to generateappropriate stimulation parameters for controlling implantable cochlearstimulator 510. Sound processor 504 may include or be implemented withina behind-the-ear (“BTE”) unit, a portable speech processor (“PSP”),and/or any other sound processing unit as may serve a particularapplication. Exemplary components of sound processor 504 will bedescribed in more detail below.

Sound processor 504 may be configured to transcutaneously transmit data(e.g., data representative of one or more stimulation parameters) toimplantable cochlear stimulator 504 via coil 508. As shown in FIG. 5,coil 508 may be housed within headpiece 506, which may be affixed to apatient's head and positioned such that coil 508 is communicativelycoupled to a corresponding coil (not shown) included within implantablecochlear stimulator 510. In this manner, data may be wirelesslytransmitted between sound processor 504 and implantable cochlearstimulator 510 via communication link 518. It will be understood thatdata communication link 118 may include a bi-directional communicationlink and/or one or more dedicated uni-directional communication links.In some alternative embodiments, sound processor 504 and implantablecochlear stimulator 510 may be directly connected with one or more wiresor the like.

Implantable cochlear stimulator 510 may be configured to generateelectrical stimulation representative of an audio signal detected bymicrophone 502 in accordance with one or more stimulation parameterstransmitted thereto by sound processing subsystem 102. Implantablecochlear stimulator 510 may be further configured to apply theelectrical stimulation to one or stimulation sites within the cochleavia one or more electrodes 514 disposed along lead 512. Hence,implantable cochlear stimulator 510 may be referred to as amulti-channel implantable cochlear stimulator 510.

To facilitate application of the electrical stimulation generated byimplantable cochlear stimulator 510, lead 512 may be inserted within aduct of the cochlea such that electrodes 514 are in communication withone or more stimulation sites within the cochlea. As used herein, theterm “in communication with” refers to electrodes 514 being adjacent to,in the general vicinity of, in close proximity to, directly next to, ordirectly on the stimulation site. Any number of electrodes 514 (e.g.,sixteen) may be disposed on lead 512 as may serve a particularapplication.

FIG. 6 illustrates components of an exemplary sound processor 504coupled to an implantable cochlear stimulator 510. The components shownin FIG. 6 may be configured to perform one or more of the processesassociated with one or more of the facilities 302-316 associated withsound processing subsystem 102 and are merely representative of the manydifferent components that may be included within sound processor 504.

As shown in FIG. 6, microphone 502 senses an audio signal, such asspeech or music, and converts the audio signal into one or moreelectrical signals. These signals are then amplified in audio front-end(“AFE”) circuitry 602. The amplified audio signal is then converted to adigital signal by an analog-to-digital (“A/D”) converter 604. Theresulting digital signal is then subjected to automatic gain controlusing a suitable automatic gain control (“AGC”) unit 606.

After appropriate automatic gain control, the digital signal issubjected to a plurality of filters 610 (e.g., a plurality of band-passfilters). Filters 610 are configured to divide the digital signal into manalysis channels 608 each containing a signal representative of adistinct frequency portion of the audio signal sensed by microphone 502.Additional or alternative components may be used to divide the signalinto the analysis channels 608 as may serve a particular application.For example, as described previously, one or more components may beincluded within sound processor 504 that are configured to apply aDiscrete Fourier Transform to the audio signal and then divide theresulting frequency bins into the analysis channels 608.

As shown in FIG. 6, the signals within each analysis channel 608 may beinput into an energy detector 612. Each energy detector 612 may includeany combination of circuitry configured to detect an amount of energycontained within each of the signals within the analysis channels 608.For example, each energy detector 612 may include a rectificationcircuit followed by an integrator circuit.

In some examples, energy detectors 612 may be used to identify one ormore spectral peaks and/or other spectral components included withineach signal contained within analysis channels 608. For example, energydetectors 612 may be configured to detect a maximum energy level,average energy level, and/or any other energy characteristic of thesignals within analysis channels 608. The detected energy levels may beused to identify spectral peaks and/or other spectral components of anaudio signal as described herein.

After energy detection, the signals within the m analysis channels 608may be input into a noise reduction module 614. Noise reduction module614 may perform one or more of the functions described in connectionwith noise reduction facility 308. For example, noise reduction module614 may generate a noise reduction gain parameter for each of thesignals within analysis channels 608 based on a signal-to-noise ratio ofeach respective signal and apply noise reduction to the signals inaccordance with the determined noise reduction gain parameters.

Mapping module 616 may perform one or more of the functions described inconnection with mapping facility 310. For example, mapping module 616may map the signals in the analysis channels 608 to one or morestimulation channels after the signals have been subjected to noisereduction by noise reduction module 614. For example, signal levels ofthe noise reduced signals generated by noise reduction module 614 aremapped to amplitude values used to define the electrical stimulationpulses that are applied to the patient by implantable cochlearstimulator 510 via M stimulation channels 622. In some examples, groupsof one or more electrodes 514 may make up the M stimulation channels622.

Stimulation strategy module 618 may perform one or more of the functionsdescribed in connection with stimulation strategy facility 312. Forexample, stimulation strategy module 618 may generate one or morestimulation parameters by selecting a particular stimulationconfiguration in which implantable cochlear stimulator 510 operates togenerate and apply electrical stimulation representative of variousspectral components of an audio signal. For example, stimulationstrategy module 618 may be configured to generate stimulation parametersthat direct implantable cochlear stimulator 510 to use partialmultipolar stimulation to generate and apply electrical stimulationrepresentative of the one or more spectral peaks of an audio signal.Stimulation strategy module 618 may additionally be configured togenerate stimulation parameters that direct implantable cochlearstimulator 510 to use monopolar stimulation to generate and applyelectrical stimulation representative of the one or more other spectralcomponents of the audio signal.

Multiplexer 620 may be configured to serialize the stimulationparameters generated by stimulation strategy module 618 so that they canbe transmitted to implantable cochlear stimulator 510 via coil 508. Theimplantable cochlear stimulator 510 may then generate and applyelectrical stimulation via one or more of the M stimulation channels 622to one or more stimulation sites within the duct of the patient'scochlea in accordance with the one or more stimulation parameters.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary method 700 of representing differentspectral components of an audio signal presented to a cochlear implantpatient. While FIG. 7 illustrates exemplary steps according to oneembodiment, other embodiments may omit, add to, reorder, and/or modifyany of the steps shown in FIG. 7. It will be recognized that any of thesystems, subsystems, facilities, and/or modules described herein may beconfigured to perform one or more of the steps shown in FIG. 7.

In step 702, one or more spectral peaks of an audio signal presented toa cochlear implant patient are identified. Step 702 may be performed byspectral analysis facility 306, for example, in any of the waysdescribed herein.

In step 704, electrical stimulation representative of the one or morespectral peaks is applied to at least one stimulation site within thecochlear implant patient using a partial multipolar stimulationconfiguration. Exemplary partial multipolar stimulation configurationsthat may be used to apply electrical stimulation to at least onestimulation site within a cochlear implant patient will be described inmore detail below.

In step 706, electrical stimulation representative of one or more otherspectral components of the audio signal is applied at least onestimulation site within the cochlear implant patient using a monopolarstimulation configuration. An exemplary monopolar stimulationconfiguration that may be used to apply electrical stimulation to atleast one stimulation site within a cochlear implant patient will bedescribed in more detail below.

Exemplary stimulation configurations that may be used in connection withthe systems and methods described herein will now be described. FIG. 8shows an exemplary electrode arrangement 800 that may be selectivelyconfigured to operate in one of a monopolar stimulation configuration, afull multipolar stimulation configuration, and a partial multipolarstimulation configuration.

As shown in FIG. 8, electrode arrangement 800 may include a mainintracochlear electrode 514-1 and plurality of compensatingintracochlear electrodes (e.g., electrodes 514-2 and 514-3) surroundingmain electrode 514-1. Electrodes 514-1 through 514-3 will becollectively referred to herein as “electrodes 514”. An independentcurrent source 802 (e.g., current sources 802-1 through 802-3) maycorrespond to each electrode 514. Current sources 802 may be includedwithin implantable cochlear stimulator 510, for example, and may beconfigured to generate the stimulation current that is applied to eachelectrode 514.

In some examples, electrodes 514 are collinearly positioned a certaindistance d away from a stimulation site 808 (e.g., the auditory nerve).For example, the electrodes 514 shown in FIG. 8 are collinearly locatedalong a particular axis (e.g., the x-axis). Moreover, as shown in FIG.8, the electrodes 514 may be separated one from another by a separationdistance L. The separation distance L and the distance d may vary as mayserve a particular application. It will also be recognized thatelectrodes 514 may be positioned in any alternative arrangement as mayserve a particular application. For example, the electrodes 514 may belocated within different planes.

Three intracochlear electrodes 514 are shown in FIG. 8 for illustrativepurposes. The three intracochlear electrodes 514 may be configured toselectively operate in one of a monopolar stimulation configuration, afull tripolar stimulation configuration, and a partial tripolarstimulation configuration. It will be recognized that any other numberof intracochlear electrodes 514 may be included within electrodeconfiguration 800 in order to realize other types of full and/or partialmultipolar stimulation. For example, two intracochlear electrodes 514may be used to realize full and/or partial bipolar stimulation and/orfour intracochlear electrodes 514 may be used to realize full and/orpartial quadrapolar stimulation.

Electrode arrangement 800 may further include an extracochlear groundelectrode 804 and a circuit ground 806. Extracochlear ground electrode804 may be implemented using the case of implantable cochlear stimulator510, disposed on a proximal portion of a lead that is inserted into thecochlea, and/or otherwise implemented in any suitable manner. Circuitground 806 may include a ground trace, for example, disposed withinimplantable cochlear stimulator 510. As will be described in more detailbelow, a portion of the stimulation current applied to electrodes 514-1through 514-3 may be returned to circuit ground 806 by way ofextracochlear ground electrode 804 when electrodes 514 are configured tooperate in a partial multipolar stimulation configuration.

Stimulation current may be selectively and simultaneously applied to oneor more of electrodes 514-1 through 514-3 by one or more of currentsources 802 in order to realize monopolar stimulation, full multipolarstimulation, and/or partial multipolar stimulation. To illustrate, FIG.8 shows that a stimulation current I₀ may be applied to main electrode514-1. The stimulation current I₀ may be generated by implantablecochlear stimulator 510, for example, in accordance with one or morestimulation parameters provided by sound processor 504 as may serve aparticular application.

Current may also be applied to compensating electrodes 514-2 and 514-3in order to narrow the excitation field caused by main electrode 514-1.The compensating current is opposite in phase as the stimulation currentI₀ and may be represented by I₀*σ/2, wherein σ represents a programmablemultiplication factor or “focusing factor” ranging from 0 to 1. Hence,the total compensating current applied to compensating electrodes 514-2and 514-3 may be varied from 0 to I₀. By so doing, stimulation currentmay be selectively applied to stimulation site 808 in a monopolarstimulation configuration, a full multipolar stimulation configuration,or a partial multipolar stimulation configuration.

To illustrate, a monopolar stimulation configuration may be realized byadjusting the focusing factor σ to equal 0 in order to prevent currentfrom being applied to compensating electrodes 514-2 and 514-3. In thismanner, stimulation current is only applied to main electrode 514-1,thereby resulting in a monopolar stimulation configuration.

Alternatively, a full multipolar stimulation configuration may berealized by adjusting the focusing factor σ to equal 1 in order to applyan equal amount of current via compensating electrodes 514-2 and 514-3as is applied via the main electrode 514-1. In such a configuration,compensating current equal I₀/2 is applied to each of the compensatingelectrodes 514-2 and 514-3 shown in FIG. 8. Because the total amount ofcompensating current applied to compensating electrodes 514-2 and 514-3is equal to the amount of current applied to main electrode 514-1, nocurrent passes through extracochlear ground electrode 804 in fullmultipolar stimulation configuration. Full multipolar stimulation oftenresults in undesirable side lobes that cause can produce significantpitch distortion and adversely affect speech perception in cochlearimplant patients. Partial multipolar stimulation, on the other hand,does not result in as big of side lobes as does full multipolarstimulation, and therefore is more desirable to use to representspectral peaks in an audio signal.

A partial multipolar stimulation configuration may be realized byadjusting the focusing factor σ to a value in between, but notincluding, 0 and 1 such that the total amount of current applied bycompensating electrodes 514-2 and 514-3 is greater than 0 and less thanI₀. In such a stimulation configuration, an amount of current equal to(1−σ)*I₀ returns to circuit ground 806 by way of extracochlear groundelectrode 804. For example, if focusing factor σ is equal to 0.5, halfof stimulation current I₀ flows through compensating electrodes 514-2and 514-3 to circuit ground 806 and half of stimulation current I₀ flowsthrough extracochlear ground electrode 804 to circuit ground 806.

Compensating electrodes 514-2 and 514-3 shown in FIG. 8 are bothconfigured to apply an equal amount of compensating current (i.e.,I_(o)*σ/2) for illustrative purposes only. It will be recognized thatcompensating electrodes 514-2 and 514-3 may alternatively be configuredto apply different amounts of compensating current as may serve aparticular application.

In some examples, the systems and methods described herein may be usedin connection with a current steering stimulation strategy. As usedherein, a “current steering stimulation strategy” is one in whichweighted stimulation current is applied concurrently to two or moreelectrodes by an implantable cochlear stimulator in order to stimulate astimulation site located in between areas associated with the two ormore electrodes and thereby create a perception of a frequency inbetween the frequencies associated with the two or more electrodes,compensate for one or more disabled electrodes, and/or generate a targetpitch that is outside a range of pitches associated with an array ofelectrodes. Current steering may be used for any other reason as mayserve a particular application and will be described in more detailbelow.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary implementation 900 of a current steeringstrategy. The components and functions illustrated in FIG. 9 may beimplemented by any of the subsystems, facilities, and/or modulesdescribed herein. For examples, one or more components of soundprocessor 504 may be configured to perform any of the functionsdescribed in connection with FIG. 9.

As shown in FIG. 9, current steering may be applied to two or moreelectrodes 514 (e.g., electrodes 514-1 and 514-2). Two electrodes 514are shown in FIG. 9 for illustrative purposes only. It will berecognized that current steering may alternatively be applied to threeor more electrodes as may serve a particular application. Electrodes514-1 and 514-2 may be adjacent one to another (i.e., no other electrode514 is physically disposed in between them on lead 512). Alternatively,electrodes 514-1 and 514-2 may be non-adjacent (i.e., one or moreelectrodes 514 are physically disposed in between them on lead 512).

As shown in FIG. 9, an input signal may be filtered by at least onefilter 902 configured to generate a frequency domain signalrepresentative of a distinct frequency portion of the audio signal. Theinput signal is also input into a frequency estimator 904 configured toestimate the peak frequency thereof. A time pattern block 906 isconfigured to build construct the temporal structure of a pulse trainrepresenting the signal output by the at least one filter 902. Mappingmodules 908 are configured to map the amplitude of the signal output bythe time pattern block 906 to corresponding current levels in accordancewith a suitable mapping function.

The output of each mapping module 908 is input into a current steeringmodule 910. The current steering module 910 is also configured toreceive the output of the frequency estimator 904. In some examples, thecurrent steering module 910 is configured to determine appropriateweighting factors for current to be applied to electrodes 514-1 and514-2. This determination may be based at least in part on the peakfrequency estimate and the output of each of the mapping modules 908.The weighting factors may be applied to the current using multiplicationblocks 912. In this manner, stimulation current may be delivered to astimulation site located in between areas associated with electrodes514-1 and 514-2.

The excitation field produced by the current steering electrodes 514-1and 514-2 may be narrowed by applying compensating currentsimultaneously via one or more additional electrodes. FIG. 10illustrates another exemplary implementation 1000 of a current steeringstrategy that may be used to dynamically focus one or more excitationfields produced by current steering electrodes (e.g., electrodes 514-1and 514-2). The components and functions illustrated in FIG. 10 may beimplemented by any of the subsystems, facilities, and/or modulesdescribed herein. For examples, one or more components of soundprocessor 504 may be configured to perform any of the functionsdescribed in connection with FIG. 10.

Implementation 1000 includes many of the same components as theimplementation described in connection with FIG. 9. In addition,functional block diagram 1000 includes a focusing factor generator 1002configured to generate focusing factor σ based on the amplitude of thesignal output by filter 902. The focusing factor σ is used to generatescaled versions of the current steering current. This scaled current isdelivered via one or more additional electrodes (e.g., electrodes 514-3and 514-4) to effectively narrow the excitation field produced byelectrodes 514-1 and 514-2.

As shown in FIG. 10, loudness compensators 1004 may also be includedwithin the implementation 1000 of FIG. 10. Loudness compensators 1004are configured to adjust the amplitudes of the currents applied viaelectrodes 514-1 and 514-2 to compensate for loudness changes that maybe caused by current delivered via the compensating electrodes 514-3 and514-4.

While exemplary implementations 900 and 1000 of a current steeringstimulation strategy have been described herein, it will be recognizedthat other implementations of a current steering stimulation strategymay additionally or alternatively used as may serve a particularapplication.

As mentioned, partial multipolar stimulation may be used to representone or more formants included within an audio signal that comprisesspeech (i.e., a speech signal). A formant represents a resonance of thehuman vocal tract and is associated with the utterance of a vowel sound.There are often a plurality of formants that are associated with aparticular vowel sound (e.g., formants f₁, f₂, and f₃, in descendingorder of amplitude). By representing one or more of the formants (e.g.,at least the highest amplitude formant) corresponding to a particularvowel sound with partial multipolar stimulation instead of monopolarstimulation, the one or more formants may be represented more preciselythereby reducing spectral smearing and improving recognition of thevowel sound by the cochlear implant patient.

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary method 1100 of representing formantsincluded within an audio signal presented to a cochlear implant patient.While FIG. 11 illustrates exemplary steps according to one embodiment,other embodiments may omit, add to, reorder, and/or modify any of thesteps shown in FIG. 11. It will be recognized that any of the systems,subsystems, facilities, and/or modules described herein may beconfigured to perform one or more of the steps shown in FIG. 11.

In step 1102, a speech signal is divided into a plurality of analysischannels each containing a frequency domain signal representative of adistinct frequency portion of the speech signal. The speech signal maybe divided into the plurality of analysis channels in any of the waysdescribed herein.

In step 1104, one or more of the frequency domain signals that eachinclude a formant included within the speech signal may be identified.The frequency domain signals that include formants may be identified inany of the ways described herein. For example, a maximum energy level ofeach of the frequency domain signals may be detected.

In step 1106, a partial multipolar stimulation configuration is used toapply electrical stimulation representative of the identified one ormore frequency domain signals to the cochlear implant patient. Thepartial multipolar stimulation configuration may include any of thepartial multipolar stimulation configurations described herein.

In step 1108, a monopolar stimulation configuration is used to applyelectrical stimulation representative of one or more of the frequencydomain signals that do not include a formant to the cochlear implantpatient. The electrical stimulation may be applied to the cochlearimplant patient in any of the ways described herein.

In the preceding description, various exemplary embodiments have beendescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will, however,be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto,and additional embodiments may be implemented, without departing fromthe scope of the invention as set forth in the claims that follow. Forexample, certain features of one embodiment described herein may becombined with or substituted for features of another embodimentdescribed herein. The description and drawings are accordingly to beregarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a sound processor configuredto identify one or more spectral peaks of an audio signal presented to acochlear implant patient; and an implantable cochlear stimulatorcommunicatively coupled to the sound processor and configured to applyelectrical stimulation representative of the one or more spectral peaksto at least one stimulation site within the cochlear implant patientusing a partial multipolar stimulation configuration; and applyelectrical stimulation representative of one or more other spectralcomponents of the audio signal to at least one other stimulation sitewithin the cochlear implant patient using a monopolar stimulationconfiguration.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the sound processor isconfigured to identify the one or more spectral peaks by: dividing theaudio signal into a plurality of analysis channels each containing afrequency domain signal representative of a distinct frequency portionof the audio signal; detecting a maximum energy level of each of thefrequency domain signals; and designating a predetermined number of thedetected maximum energy levels as corresponding to one of the one ormore spectral peaks based on the detected maximum energy levels.
 3. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the sound processor is configured to identifythe one or more spectral peaks by: dividing the audio signal into aplurality of analysis channels each containing a frequency domain signalrepresentative of a distinct frequency portion of the audio signal;detecting a maximum energy level of each of the frequency domainsignals; and designating the detected maximum energy levels that aregreater than a predetermined threshold value as corresponding to the oneor more spectral peaks.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein: the soundprocessor is further configured to generate one or more stimulationparameters based on the identified spectral peaks and the one or moreother spectral components of the audio signal; and the implantablecochlear stimulator is further configured to generate the electricalstimulation representative of the one or more spectral peaks and theelectrical stimulation representative of the one or more other spectralcomponents of the audio signal in accordance with the one or morestimulation parameters.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein theimplantable cochlear stimulator is configured to apply the electricalstimulation representative of the one or more spectral peaks byconcurrently: applying a main current to a main electrode; and applyingcompensating current to two or more compensating electrodes; wherein thecompensating current is opposite in polarity compared to the maincurrent and less than the main current.
 6. The system of claim 5,further comprising an extracochlear ground electrode, and wherein aremaining amount of current equal to the difference between the maincurrent and the compensating current flows to the extracochlear groundelectrode.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more spectralpeaks comprise one or more formants within the audio signal.
 8. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the audio signal comprises speech.
 9. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the partial multipolar stimulationconfiguration comprises one of a partial bipolar stimulationconfiguration and a partial tripolar stimulation configuration.
 10. Asystem comprising: a sound processor configured to divide an audiosignal presented to a cochlear implant patient into a plurality ofanalysis channels each containing a frequency domain signalrepresentative of a distinct frequency portion of the audio signal,detect a maximum energy level of each of the frequency domain signals,identify, based on the detected maximum energy levels of each of thefrequency domain signals, one or more spectral peaks and one or moreother spectral components of the audio signal, direct a cochlear implantto selectively apply electrical stimulation representative of the one ormore spectral peaks to at least one stimulation site within the cochlearimplant patient using a partial multipolar stimulation configuration,and direct the cochlear implant to selectively apply electricalstimulation representative of the one or more other spectral componentsof the audio signal to at least one other stimulation site within thecochlear implant patient using a monopolar stimulation configuration;wherein the sound processor is configured to direct the cochlear implantto selectively apply the electrical stimulation representative of theone or more spectral peaks using the partial multipolar stimulationconfiguration by directing the cochlear implant to concurrently apply amain current to a main electrode, and applying compensating current toone or more compensating electrodes, wherein the compensating current isopposite in polarity compared to the main current and less than the maincurrent, and wherein a remaining amount of current equal to a differencebetween the main current and the compensating current flows to anextracochlear ground electrode.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein thesound processor is configured to identify the one or more spectral peaksby: designating a predetermined number of the detected maximum energylevels as corresponding to one of the one or more spectral peaks basedon the detected maximum energy levels.
 12. The system of claim 10,wherein the sound processor is configured to identify the one or morespectral peaks by: designating the detected maximum energy levels thatare greater than a predetermined threshold value as corresponding to theone or more spectral peaks.
 13. The system of claim 10, wherein thesound processor is further configured to: generate one or morestimulation parameters based on the identified spectral peaks and theone or more other spectral components of the audio signal; and directthe cochlear implant to generate the electrical stimulationrepresentative of the one or more spectral peaks and the electricalstimulation representative of the one or more other spectral componentsof the audio signal in accordance with the one or more stimulationparameters.
 14. The system of claim 10, wherein the one or more spectralpeaks comprise one or more formants within the audio signal.
 15. Thesystem of claim 10, wherein the one or more other spectral components ofthe audio signal comprise at least one spectral valley.
 16. The systemof claim 10, wherein the audio signal comprises speech.
 17. The systemof claim 10, wherein the partial multipolar stimulation configurationcomprises one of a partial bipolar stimulation configuration and apartial tripolar stimulation configuration.
 18. The system of claim 10,wherein the one or more compensating electrodes comprises twocompensating electrodes adjacent to the main electrode.